Wedding Preps, Part 2

“You nervous about wedding?” Halima asked me over the noon meal.

Halima didn’t talk much because of her limited Simlish, but her question took me by surprise.

I hadn’t thought too much about the wedding, actually. The whole thing was just second nature. Sunday was the only day both Andy and I had off from our jobs, and the kids weren’t in school. It was the only day we could do it.

Halima grew up in a very traditional Muslim family. Her mother stayed at home while her father worked. She and her husband Yusuf had planned to travel the world and get to know other cultures, but he unfortunately passed away.

I put out an advertisement in an Al Simhara newspaper and on the internet for a personal housekeeper and nanny, and someone with the ability to speak Arabic was a plus. Halima answered my ad.

Andy and Halima went over to the wedding chapel that had been built over on Oak Grove to make sure everything was copacetic.

Ari, bless her maid-of-honor heart, brought my kids into the chapel. Sebastian came in right behind them.

“So. Today is the day.”

“I guess it is.”

“What do you mean, you GUESS today is the day? Everything’s ready. The flowers, the food, the guests, the music…”

I took a deep breath. “Something’s missing.”

I heard a set of footsteps running up the aisle, and shook my head… ahhhh, dad.

“I wrote my own vows,” he told me, fumbling adorably through his words. “But truthfully I don’t need them. The only vow I need is you in my arms.”

To be continued….

On Pinochle Pond

I can’t believe it’s happened. I live here, at the very end of Pinochle Pond, in a house that is tailor made for a nature lover. Andy picked the location.

And to boot, my precious cuties are home with me, getting off the school bus. It’s funny, they now go to the same school I went to.

This is Halima Meshkenet. She’s Egyptian. I hired her for one specific purpose – to watch the kids when Andy and I can’t. She’s also there to help with the language barrier, as the kids’ Simlish is still very limited. They are native Arabic speakers and so is Halima. My own Arabic isn’t great but I’m learning.

Andy’s ideal with the kids. Our first morning back from Egypt, Halima fixed waffles and he and Satis ate at the table.

Satis is a bit shy around everyone except for me. She’s not outgoing like her brother, so she pretty much sticks to the house. I dealt with yet another publisher’s deadline. My contract is for three books…

Pretty soon it was time to put down the laptop and suit up for work. I had the strangest assignment ever. It was bad enough that I had a poltergeist invasion, pretty much the worst I’d seen so far…

After zapping a haunted desk…

I looked outside and saw the strangest thing….haunted…get ready for this… seeds.

I’ve done a lot of traveling, been all over the world, fought mummies in tombs in Egypt, but this is hands down the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.

I took out my Banshee Blaster and carefully (how can you zap possessed kernels out of existence?) sucked the poltergeist from the particles.

Funny thing is, I didn’t even think to pick the darn things up when I finished zapping them. I left them where they were.

After the kids and Halima had gone to bed, Cheesebum and I got a moment to ourselves.